Football in Greece

Association football in Greece
Country Greece
Governing bodyHellenic Football Federation
National teams
First played
  • 1906; 120 years ago (1906) (Unofficial)
  • 1927; 99 years ago (1927) (Official)
Clubs
  • 2,276 (2023)[1]
  • 2,139 (2024)[2]
  • 2,210 (2025)[3]
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions
Audience records
Single matchOlympiacos Piraeus vs. Hamburger SV
3 November 1982
Athens Olympic Stadium
75,263 spectators

Association football is the most popular sport in Greece, followed by basketball. Over half of the people in Greece are interested in football.[4]

History of Greek football

Ancient Greek Episkyros player balancing the ball. Depiction on an Attic Lekythos.

The Ancient Greeks are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as "ἐπίσκυρος" (Episkyros)[5][6] or "φαινίνδα" (phaininda),[7] which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 B.C.) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c.150–c.215 A.D.). These games appear to have resembled rugby football.[8][9][10][11][12]

In the modern era, however, association football was introduced to the Greeks by expatriate British communities and military personnel. The first Greek football teams were created as part of long-established athletic and gymnastic clubs in the major port cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as among the large Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire, such as Constantinople and Smyrna, in the early 1900s. After the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922 which resulted in a large resettlement of Greeks from Turkey to Greece, several clubs, such as Panionios and Apollon Smyrnis, were transplanted, while many athletes of other clubs, like Pera, formed new organizations in their new home (e.g. AEK, PAOK).

League system

Main article: Greek football league system

The first league of professional football in Greece was officially established as the Panhellenic Championship in 1927. The league ran until 1959, when it was replaced by the Alpha Ethniki which ran until 2006 when it was then replaced by Super League Greece. According to FIFPRO, an organization that represents professional players, nearly 70 percent of players complained in a 2011 survey of problems with not being paid.[13]

Superleague Greece is the top-flight professional football division within Greece. The league contains 14 clubs, with the winners of the league becoming the Champions of Greece. The team with the most national championships is Olympiacos, who have won 48 times - 14 Super League titles, 19 Alpha Ethniki titles and 15 Panhellenic Championships.[14] Two other P.O.K. clubs also dominate the history of Greek football; Panathinaikos with 20 titles and AEK Athens with 13 titles.[14]

Cup competitions

There is currently one major cup competition in Greek football, the Greek Cup. It includes clubs from the 2 professional leagues in Greece, Super League 1 and Super League 2. Until 2008, another major cup competition was the Greek Super Cup, an annual game held between the winner of the Greek Super League and Greek Cup that will be reinstated from 2025-2026 season and there will be again two major cup competitions in Greek football from then on.

International

UEFA competitions

The Karaiskakis Stadium during a 2009–10 UEFA Champions League fixture against Arsenal.

Club sides may qualify to play in European tournaments under the jurisdiction of UEFA. The champions of Super League qualify for the group stage of the following season's UEFA Champions League. The teams finishing in second to fifth position qualify for a round-robin playoff, the winner of which will enter the Champions League at the Third Qualifying Round. The other three teams will qualify for the following season's UEFA Europa League, at the Play-off, Third Qualifying or Second Qualifying Round stage, dependent on their performance in the national level playoff. The winner of the Greek Cup also qualifies for the Europa League. If this club has already qualified for a UEFA competition then the place is given to the runners-up.[15][16]

Olympiacos became the first and only Greek team to lift a UEFA trophy, winning the UEFA Conference League in the 2023–24 season, defeating Fiorentina in the final. Additionally, the Olympiacos youth team had won the UEFA Youth League in the same season, beating AC Milan in the final.[6][7][17]

National team

Main article: Greece national football team
Angelos Charisteas scoring Greece's winning goal in the UEFA Euro 2004 final.

The Greek national team's first match came on April 7, 1929, in a 1–4 loss to Italy. Greece have qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times, in 1994, in 2010 and in 2014. Greece have qualified for the European Championship four times, their first in 1980, their second in 2004, their third in 2008 and their fourth in 2012. 2004 was their most successful run as they became champions by defeating hosts Portugal in the finals.

Women's football

Main article: Greece women's national football team

A national league for women has existed since 1989. Now known as the Women's Alpha Ethniki, it was started in 1989 as the Women's Panhellenic Championship. In recent years PAOK have dominated the league.

Greek footballers

Main article: List of Greece international footballers

Records

Main article: Football records and statistics in Greece

Professional seasons in Greek football

1970s: 1979–80
1980s: 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s: 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s: 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s: 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s: 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

Attendances

The average attendance per top-flight football league season and the club with the highest average attendance:

Season League average Best club Best club average
2024–25 6,412 Olympiacos 26,969
2023–24 5,365 AEK 21,343
2022–23 7,186 AEK 27,603
2021–22 — — —
2020–21 — — —
2019–20 6,408 Olympiacos 20,501
2018–19 5,416 Olympiacos 21,073
2017–18 3,906 Olympiacos 14,016
2016–17 3,932 Olympiacos 18,044
2015–16 4,039 Olympiacos 18,154
2014–15 3,141 Olympiacos 17,221
2013–14 3,966 Olympiacos 16,856
2012–13 4,900 Olympiacos 20,918
2011–12 5,064 Olympiacos 21,529
2010–11 6,308 Olympiacos 22,099
2009–10 7,510 Panathinaikos 27,531
2008–09 7,534 Olympiacos 25,368
2007–08 6,526 Olympiacos 24,196
2006–07 6,183 Olympiacos 22,412
2005–06 5,679 Olympiacos 21,270
2004–05 6,010 AEK 27,647
2003–04 2,892 Panathinaikos 8,857
2002–03 3,232 Panathinaikos 8,093
2001–02 5,642 Olympiacos 20,279
2000–01 3,626 Olympiacos 11,989
1999–2000 3,980 Olympiacos 14,335
1998–99 4,119 Olympiacos 11,092
1997–98 4,509 Olympiacos 16,237
1996–97 4,467 Olympiacos 16,935
1995–96 4,326 Panathinaikos 11,662
1994–95 4,128 Panathinaikos 11,709
1993–94 3,763 AEK 11,384
1992–93 4,921 Panathinaikos 16,215
1991–92 5,874 Olympiacos 18,388
1990–91 6,373 Olympiacos 18,363
1989–90 6,563 Panathinaikos 19,554
1988–89 9,462 Olympiacos 35,460
1987–88 11,256 Olympiacos 38,604
1986–87 9,102 Olympiacos 32,056
1985–86 14,103 Panathinaikos 45,000
1984–85 11,958 Panathinaikos 37,024
1983–84 10,235 Panathinaikos 22,417
1982–83 7,681 Olympiacos 23,508
1981–82 8,255 Olympiacos 22,046
1980–81 8,676 Olympiacos 24,759
1979–80 9,422 Olympiacos 24,791
1978–79 8,302 Olympiacos 24,552
1977–78 6,593 AEK 15,572
1976–77 10,338 Olympiacos 26,209
1975–76 9,732 Olympiacos 22,089
1974–75 9,135 Olympiacos 24,959
1973–74 9,586 Olympiacos 29,526
1972–73 10,869 Olympiacos 36,817
1971–72 10,558 Olympiacos 32,471
1970–71 10,098 Olympiacos 27,640
1969–70 9,172 Olympiacos 24,228
1968–69 8,441 Olympiacos 23,329
1967–68 7,756 Olympiacos 21,703
1966–67 8,367 Olympiacos 27,591
1965–66 7,542 Olympiacos 27,770
1964–65 8,630 Olympiacos 26,472
1963–64 7,084 Olympiacos 21,806
1962–63 7,575 Panathinaikos 19,160
1961–62 6,238 Panathinaikos 17,393
1960–61 5,698 Panathinaikos 15,998
1959–60 5,437 Panathinaikos 13,394

Source:[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Εγγεγραμμένα σωματεία (2023) | Ηλεκτρονικό Μητρώο Αθλητικών Σωματείων με Ειδική Αθλητική Αναγνώριση". somateia2023.gga.gov.gr. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  2. ^ "Μητρώο 2024 | E-KOUROS". somateia.minsports.gov.gr. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  3. ^ "Μητρώο 2025 | E-KOUROS". somateia.minsports.gov.gr. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  4. ^ "(Soccer) Football Fans by Country 2025". countrycassette.com. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  5. ^ ἐπίσκυρος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  6. ^ a b The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007 Edition: "In ancient Greece a game with elements of football, episkuros, or harpaston, was played, and it had migrated to Rome as harpastum by the 2nd century BC".
  7. ^ a b φαινίνδα, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  8. ^ Nigel Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2005, p. 310
  9. ^ Nigel M. Kennell, The Gymnasium of Virtue: Education and Culture in Ancient Sparta (Studies in the History of Greece and Rome), The University of North Carolina Press, 1995, on Google Books
  10. ^ Steve Craig, Sports and Games of the Ancients: (Sports and Games Through History), Greenwood, 2002, on Google Books
  11. ^ Don Nardo, Greek and Roman Sport, Greenhaven Press, 1999, p. 83
  12. ^ Sally E. D. Wilkins, Sports and games of medieval cultures, Greenwood, 2002, on Google books
  13. ^ Another Victim of Global Financial Crisis: Pro Soccer Players, New York Times, March 24, 2014.
  14. ^ a b "All Time Champions". Hellenic Football Federation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  15. ^ "Ευρω-άτιτλος πεναλτιακός vs ευρωκουπάτος και σπαθάτος!". gavros.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Ο ΑΣΥΛΛΗΠΤΟΣ ΜΥΘΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΡΩΤΟΥ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΙΚΟΥ!". gavros.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Ολυμπιακός: Η μεγαλύτερη ευρωπαϊκή πορεία στην ιστορία όλων των κατόχων ευρωπαϊκών τίτλων!". gavros.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Greek attendances".
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_in_Greece